 ccording
to a recent analysis for in-cites, the Australian Institute of
Marine Science (AIMS) has entered the top 1% of institutions
in the field of Environment & Ecology, based on its total
citations in that field. The Institute’s current record in
the ISI
Essential Science Indicators
Web product includes 142 papers cited a total of 1,526 times
to date in the field of Environment & Ecology, as well as
381 papers cited a total of 4,011 times to date in the field
of Plant & Animal Science. AIMS was founded in 1972 by the
Commonwealth government of Australia to "generate and
transfer the knowledge needed for the sustainable use and
protection of the marine environment through innovative,
world-class scientific and technological research." In
the interview below, AIMS representatives talk about this
citation achievement and the work of the Institute.
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How do you account for AIMS's growing impact in the field of
Environment & Ecology in recent years?
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“Marine science is a relative newcomer to environmental research but it is rapidly growing as the community in general becomes more aware of the vulnerability of marine ecosystems.”
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Globally there is increased concern about threats to our
environment and there is a drive to improve our understanding of
what is there (biodiversity), how it works, and how to manage it
sustainably ; in Australia, "An Environmentally Sustainable
Australia" is a national research priority. To achieve this
goal requires ongoing, high-quality strategic marine science. Marine
science is a relative newcomer to environmental research but it is
rapidly growing as the community in general becomes more aware of
the vulnerability of marine ecosystems. In recent years there has
been a growing interest in tropical marine ecology and environmental
science because of their importance in supporting coastal
communities and the observable decline of tropical ecosystems,
particularly the decline of coral reefs, seagrass and mangrove
forests, climate change, and land-sea interactions.
Does this reflect a deliberate plan to enhance AIMS's research effort
in this field, or was this an unexpected or serendipitous development?
One way we measure success at AIMS is the delivering of
high-quality research outcomes. The mission of the Institute is to
generate and transfer knowledge to support the sustainable use and
protection of the marine environment. It is therefore strongly
aligned with this field. There are increasing threats to marine
ecosystems and AIMS has ensured its strategic research effort is
relevant to developing a better understanding of what this means in
tropical marine ecosystems (e.g., climate change and monitoring
work). As threats to the environment increase so too does interest
in our research. In addition to publications, AIMS maintains strong
links to the users of our research to enhance the societal benefits
of the research outcomes.
What factors or circumstances led AIMS to its work?
The Institute’s funding allows it to undertake longer-term
strategic research that is fundamentally important to improving our
knowledge about marine ecosystems. One of our strengths is our
ability to undertake long-term, large-scale research focused on
complex scientific issues. We also continually review emerging
scientific questions and new technologies to enable us to respond
strategically to maintain AIMS as a globally significant tropical
marine science research agency.
Is there a research area upon which AIMS particularly focuses?
The status of tropical marine ecosystems and the impacts of
natural and human-induced disturbances. In particular, the capacity
of these ecosystems to adapt to these impacts. Academically, most of
the research is focused on understanding status and processes.
What is your prediction for the state of our knowledge about this
particular field 10 years from now?
The rapid development of coastal and ocean observing systems to
measure and monitor biological, chemical, and physical environmental
conditions (sensor networks) will dramatically improve our knowledge
base. In parallel, rapid advances in our ability to integrate large bio-physical data sets into models of biological, chemical,
and physical processes will provide significantly improved
understanding of marine ecosystems at a variety of temporal and
geographical scales including local, regional, basin, and global
scales. On the tropical science front, the rapid population growth
and development of tropical areas will require a significant
increase in the state of knowledge of tropical marine systems.
What research fields or capabilities do you see as critical for the
future of AIMS?
AIMS will maintain its multidisciplinary approach and
collaborative network to maintain its
capability to meet emerging
needs and opportunities in tropical marine ecosystems. Particular
capabilities relevant to this field of research are modeling, marine
ecology, and coastal oceanography. There is still so much to learn,
especially about the marine communities below diveable depth and
microbial communities. This, and ongoing effort to improve
identification of key indicators and effective sensor networks to
provide cost-effective monitoring of marine ecosystems are important
to our future. We will also improve our ability to link our science
to end users by improved understanding of socio-economic factors
through collaboration with providers with skills in socio-economic
research. Key research questions for AIMS include:
- Whole of ecosystem indicators of health
- Ecosystem (estuarine, coastal, reef) function and processes
- Fine-scale and large-scale modeling of system function
- Differentiation of natural and human environmental impacts
What are the implications of AIMS's work for the future of this
particular field or neighboring fields?
The Institute’s long-term, large -scale studies and capabilities
will facilitate the detection of change and understanding of the
processes driving that change in tropical marine ecosystems. This
will improve scenario forecasting providing information vital for
the development of responsive management plans, the subsequent
performance management of those plans, and the sustainable
development of marine industries. AIMS research will also provide
strategic knowledge for the development and testing of effective
automatic observations (sensor networks).
Australian Institute of Marine Science
Townsville, Queensland, Australia
Dr Ian Poiner
Chief Executive Officer
| Australian Institute of Marine Science's
most-cited paper with 87 cites to date: |
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De'Ath G, Fabricius KE, "Classification and regression trees: a powerful yet simple technique for ecological data analysis,"
Ecology 81(11): 3178-92, November 2000. |
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Source:
ISI
Essential Science Indicators |
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cites
